The route began on the 7th January 1951 and provided a service between Tooting Broadway and Victoria. The route was operated from Brixton Garage (BN) by RT type buses. The current PVR was Monday to Friday14RT, Saturday 16RT and Sunday 15RT. On the 20th August 1958 the Sunday service was withdrawn. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 7RT and Saturday 8RT. On the 29th January 1964 the BN allocation was withdrawn and replaced by Merton Garage (AL). The route was extended from Tooting to Kingston and withdrawn from between Stockwell and Victoria. The route now ran from Kingston to Streatham (Monday-Saturday) or Stockwell (MF Peaks/Sat shopping hrs). The current PVR was now Monday to Friday 11RT and Saturday 10RT. On the 31st December 1966 the 57 was withdrawn between Streatham and Stockwell. The route now ran from Kingston to Streatham. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 8RT and Saturday 7RT.

On the 17th June 1967 the route was extended from Streatham to Brixton Station. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 9RT and Saturday 7RT. On the 18th September 1971 the route was converted to One Person Operation by SMS type single deck buses. The current PVR was now Monday to Friday 9SMS and Saturday 8SMS. On the 13th November 1977 the route was converted back to double deck operation by DMS type buses. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 9DMS and Saturday 8DMS. On the 9th September 1982 a Saturday LS allocation was introduced. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 8DMS and Saturday 7DMS/5LS. By August 1985 the LS allocation was withdrawn. The route was operated by D type buses. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 8D and Saturday 12D. On the 2nd September 1989 the service was transferred from AL to Norbiton Garage (NB). The route was converted to Metrobus type buses. The current PVR was currently Monday to Friday 16M and Saturday 10M. On the 7th September 1991 the route under a new contract with London United and was now operated from Fulwell Garage (FW). The current PVR was 16M and Saturday 14M.

On the 5th September 1992 the London United contract was withdrawn and London and Country took over the route from their Leatherhead and Croydon Garages. They operated the route by all types of buses. A Sunday operation was introduced by London and Country. The route was revised Monday to Saturday ran from Kingston to Streatham Hill and Sundays ran from Kingston to Tooting Broadway. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 18DD, Saturday 14DD and Sunday 6DD. Later on the Sunday service was extended from Streatham to Tooting Broadway. On the 28th June 1997 London and Country sold off and London United won back the route and it was back to Metrobus operation. The route was operated from Kingston Garage. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 19M, Saturday 18M and Sunday 9M. On the 1st June 1998 the M type was replaced by VA type buses. On the 3rd November 2001 Kingston Garage closed so the route was transferred to Tolworth Garage (TV). On the 16th November 2002 there was an increase in the PVR and Low floor Double deckers were introduced (TA). The current PVR was Monday to Saturday 22TA/VA and Sunday 13TA/VA. By 2003 the route was fully converted to Low floor operation. In 2006 the current PVR was Monday to Saturday 25TA and Sunday 16TA. The average journey time is between 50-83 minutes. The frequency Monday to Saturday is every 8 minutes, Sunday and evenings every 12-15 minutes.